Middle East & North Africa

2010

New York, July 2, 2010— The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Bahraini authorities to drop charges against Mohammed al-Sawad, a reporter for the independent daily Al-Bilad, who is accused of violating a government-imposed gag order.

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He's young,
unemployed and carries himself with the innocence of a man who hasn't spent
much time outside his own village. But Egyptian blogger Tamer
Mabrouk is the real deal. Appearing at an international media conference in Bonn, Mabrouk's description of chemical dumping into a
brackish lagoon on the northern Nile Delta near the Mediterranean Sea was
punctuated by photos of unmistakable filth. He won over the audience when, in
response to a question on how one travels with sensitive material, Tamer deftly
removed a memory card secreted in an electronic device and held it in the air.
That, he said, is where he had carried documents for this trip.

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New York, June 28, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kuwaiti authorities to drop all charges against journalist Mohammed Abdulqader al-Jassem, who was released on bail today. CPJ is also alarmed by local news reports that the Ministry of Information will prosecute Al-Jazeera’s office in Kuwait for violating a ban on local coverage of al-Jassem’s case after the station broadcast a protest organized by a parliamentarianin solidarity with the journalist.

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New York, June 28, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed
by repressive aspects of a new technology bill that is pending in the Lebanese
parliament. CPJ urges parliament to remove several provisions that would restrict
press freedom and free expression.

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Dear Prime Minister al-Maliki: The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the disappearance of Saad al-Aossi, editor-in-chief of the critical weekly Al-Shahid. We call on you to clarify his whereabouts and the reasons for his continued detention.

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New York, June 23, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Egyptian Minister of Finance, Youssef Boutros-Ghali, to drop charges against Wael al-Abrashy, the editor-in-chief of the weekly Sawt al-Umma, and Samar al-Dawi, a reporter for the weekly.

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Your Royal Highness: The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, is concerned about the ongoing extrajudicial detention of Mohammed Abdulqader al-Jassem, a prominent journalist and founding editor of the Arabic editions of Foreign Policy and Newsweek. We call on you to ensure that this egregious violation of press freedom is rectified in al-Jassem’s June 21 court hearing and that he is released immediately.

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New York June 17, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the adoption by the Tunisian Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday of a bill that reinforces an existing arsenal of legislation used to silence critical journalists. President Ben Ali is expected to sign the bill after its anticipated approval by the Chamber of Councilors. The change is unconstitutional since it violates freedom of expression as guaranteed by Tunisian constitution, according to CPJ research.